Probably not what you want to hear but perservering with stones until you can get a decent edge is worth it.
Nothing ever gets them as sharp as stones and a strop for me.
India stone(s).
Proper Lansky (not knock off, unless there is a good one I have not heard of).
Spyderco.
And/or strop.
The pull-through things are fine for pound shop kitchen knives, but not anything else.
Probably not what you want to hear but perservering with stones until you can get a decent edge is worth it.
Nothing ever gets them as sharp as stones and a strop for me.
Maybe I should try a decent stone ... have a really cheap horrible one at teh moment, I found this is well which is a great way to get an accurate angle I'd imagine
http://www.instructables.com/id/Shar...e-perfect-bla/
Also if I want to get a strop ... any recommendations??
Make one. All you really need is a lump of wood and an old belt or piece of leather.
There's a decent enough thread on them here. It's effectively just leather glued to wood. Mine are anyway.
http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/m...-strop.640503/
If you don't have an old belt or leather scrap let me know, I have a box of off cuts and a couple of old belts; I'm sure I can sort you something out.
Unfortunately I do ... I have quite a few belts in my wardrobe that I'd hoped I may possibly fit into again one day ... maybe now I've found and alternative use for them ..... Don't know whether to put a smiley or a sad emoji with that
Slightly more seriously cheers for that .. very useful !!!!
Hello to All,
WRT to an economy strop, make one from some thick cardboard - 4" x 20" is a good size.
Apply fine abrasive/polish of your choice (MAAS is a good general purpose polish, easily available from Lakeland).
Lay the 'strop' on a flat surface and have at it.
I have a couple of these cardboard strops in the kitchen, one is sprayed with 20 micron diamond, the other 1 micron diamond, and I find them very useful.
These cardboard strops last for a surprising while - when they get sh!t-shaped, bin them and make a new one.
You don't have to worry about nicking the surface of these like you would with a leather strop
Have fun & a good Bank Holiday
Best regards
Russ
I needed something now and before I decide what to get for the longer term picked one of these up today
http://www.screwfix.com/p/forge-stee...e-coarse/6856c
Do i use water or anything else with one of these or just use it dry???
Just a small amount of water, enough to fill the pits.
Riffler,
Cheers for that !!!
meant to mention I made my own stop the other night as well, used a piece of wood and cut the belt in half putting the hairy side up on one side and down on the other, having done a bit of research as well have got some fine car metal polish like autosol to put on the belt so it'll be interesting to see how it works out.
One of these possibly?? RUIXIN PRO Professional Knife Sharpener Kitchen
Have one of these and its a good start:
https://www.knifecenter.com/item/SMI...rpening-System
Gatco or Lansky systems not bad if a bit dated.
Spyderco Sharpmaker, another great one.
Anything from DMT, Red or finer grits are all fine.
Pull systems are rubbish.
Here is my collection, well what I use most:
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/z...E/IMGP9137.jpg
Just to add my two penneth, I had one of these: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....L._SL1500_.jpg
Works well if you have a knife that is completely knackered, but not so good on longer knives.
Eventually got fed up with the time consuming fiddly faff of it, and got one of these: http://www.bladeplay.com/item--Lansk...-Medium--16612
It lives in the kitchen drawer, is ready in seconds and takes just a few minutes to touch up any length of knife.
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If you look at my set up then the big DMT is the stone I use most, had it 25 years and its still doing its diamond thing.
Then its a dry wall hand sander with micro-mesh grit papers. Can use auto wet and dry sand papers almost as well.
Then a jeweller's rouge paste on a leather strop if I want a mirror edge.
I freehand as I do plenty of sharpening, but the angle systems like Lansky work well for those with less confidence. The more convoluted systems ones are fantastic but also fantastically expensive. Which is why I put up the the inexpensive one (I don't own one but might at that price). Its all about keeping the angle while the grit does it thing, which takes time.
For every full sharpen then I use ten times a ceramic Spyderco white rod to "steel" realign the micro edge. Wiping over a ceramic is a great way to keep and good edge excellent. Stropping does the same. Eventually the knife will need a full sharpen.
Loads on the tube and a worthy skill to master. All knives need maintenance, and a sharp knife is safest.
Do not use power tools, do not use carbide pull systems unless you want to junk your knife in no time.
I quite like the idea of the Lansky Box but may also get a stone as well ... if so what should I look for and are the double sided ones worth looking at and what sort of grit should I be looking for??